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added "what kind of supervisor am I" section

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Jeremy Kidwell 2025-03-18 09:29:22 +00:00
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@ -24,6 +24,18 @@ Let's start with a bit of a list of topics that I supervise. It's worth noting t
Please note, I'm generally not interested in supervising projects that touch on reformation-era theology, or figures like Wesley, Calvin, or Luther. I will not supervise ethics projects on abortion, eugenics, or euthanasia. I'm not massively enthusiastic about systematic theology / doctrine-led projects. I'm very enthusiastic about comparative religious ethics and have been a champion for many projects in Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism, but I don't have sufficient expertise in those traditions to act as a competent lead supervisor, so if you hope to focus on Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, or Buddhism, etc. I'd recommend you find another primary supervisor with sufficient expertise in those traditions and circle back around to me with that supervisor to be a very enthusiastic second supervisor.
## What kind of supervisor am I?
Probably the second most important thing is to be sure that you are working with a supervisor that can offer the kinds of intellectual companionship that is going to help you to develop your own unique research style. I tend to approach supervision more as coaching than direction, so while some supervisors are keen to be sure that students pursue lines of enquiry that map onto their own expertise, I'm not so concerned that you are reading my favourite books, or working within areas where I'd be considered a key expert. That not to say I won't share my favourite books with you, and that I won't encourage pursuit of themes where I have at least *some* expertise. But as the list above suggests, I'll go much wider than is typical in some other cases. This is because I love to learn *from* my PhD students, so I'll expect you to teach me about things as you go along as well. If you benefit from a more structured and regimented style of collaboration (and this is perfectly understandable) I might not be the best person for you. This also means that you'll need to take on a certain level of independence in research. I may not be able or willing to provide you with a fully comprehensive literature survey for your topic. I'd much rather support you in developing your own approach and style to the rabbit trails and quests involved in scholarly discovery.
My own work is fairly experimental and speculative. I'm most interested in exploring the areas that are being neglected, finding the angles that haven't been considered and where it is helpful - bringing these to the attention to the scholarly community. This also means that my work is relatively unconventional - some people might even suggest that I'm not really even a theologian at all! I'm ok with this, and generally unbothered by disciplinary gatekeepers. But this also means that my supervision style will tend to be about helping students to think about the creative edges, the missed opportunities, and those experimental situations where we can bring new light to the margins of thought and society. This might be frustrating if you want to spend all our time together talking about the conventional reference points, e.g. theologians like Karl Barth or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or thinking about the theology of creation through a reflection on the book of Genesis. There are a lot of people doing those things! I'm just not one of them. I'll introduce you to unconventional approaches and challenge your use of convention (including conventionality in supposedly radical or critical approaches!). Because I have a lot of experience confronting convention and queering theology, I spend a lot of time coaching and mentoring my supervisees on the risks that this kind of work will expose you to. This might also be a bit unusual - so we'll deconstruct things, but also talk about how you might need to be covert or careful in the ways that you advertise your own positionality in professional contexts, or ways that you may need to make yourself conventional for the sake of early career expectations in higher education.
I'm also navigating neurodivergence and disability in my own personal scholarly contexts. I manage my workload carefully, so if we're working together, your PhD is a pretty high priority for me. But I will have times of high and times of low energy. I'm proactive in communicating about my abilities, highlighting boundaries and setting expectations. This also means that I'm proactively deferent to the boundaries and needs of my supervisees as well, so we'll have regular conversations about your wellbeing across the research journey and explore ways to support your own unique cognitive style and intellectual personality.
If this all sounds feasible, then keep reading! However if it seems to you like we won't quite be a fit - I'm perfectly happy to recommend some of my other brilliant colleagues at UOB and elsewhere who are also doing interesting work on the topics I've highlighted above.
## Features of the UK PhD
First a few salient details about our context here (in the UK at large research-intensive Universities):